Try to Act Normal
by Socially Awkward Daydreamer
Summary: Put Four theatre students with our two favourite rodents in one house, mix in the modern days, romance, friendship, denial, slow burn, bullying, an injured past and the usual normal things in life and you get this, an amusing story with more than one secret. Rated T to be safe, Possible Ratigan/OC and Basil/OC, Read and Review please!
1. Chapter 1: Brass Knuckles

**A.N. I have asked WRATH77 for permission if I can make a fanfiction with the same concept of her fanfiction titled "Living With a Mouse and a Rat". Here is an exchange of messages:**

**Me: I just read your fanfiction Living With a Mouse and a Rat, I liked the concept and I was wondering if it's okay to write a fanfiction with the same concept. If not then it's okay, I haven't posted it yet anyway.****Hopefully awaiting your reply,****Socially Awkward Daydreamer (S.A.D.)**

**WRATH77: sure, i mean, its not like you r stealing my story or characters, someone did that with another story of mine and i didn't like that ****glad u like my fic**

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"Okay guys, take five and good job!" the director, Jillian Crane told her students as they took off their costumes and began folding them, four of her theatre students were left, Angelica Bonifacio, Julie Grey, Nicole Gomez and Marco Abascal, the four of them were still practicing their lines, Jillian smiled and approached them.

"You guys still trying to get in character or are you trying to get higher notes?" she asked when she heard the three girls vocalizing. Marco looked up from his script and shrugged.

"Ma'am we have to remember everything…" he looked at his friends and sighed, "And besides, they won't let me leave until I could get Marius' notes." He added.

Jillian nodded in understanding and just let them stay while she went outside to call the New Media department for the props. Julie, the youngest of the four, looked up from her script and cocked her head to one side; she turned to her friends and gestured to the roof.

"Someone's on the roof." She whispered. Nicole shook her head.

"It's just your imagination_…_"She told her.

Julie pointed to the roof again.

"They're running on the roof…I could hear them." She persisted, Nicole sighed, took off her shoe and tossed it up the ceiling of the school theatre; it made a small thud then fell back down on the floor.

"There's no one there Julie, calm down." She said before going back to reading the script. A full 30 minutes passed with them reading their scripts when a piece of plaster fell on one of their heads…and it had to be the easily frightened one.

"_ANAK NG LECHUGAS, ANO YON?!" _**("CHILD OF A LETTUCE WHAT WAS THAT?!")** Angelica screamed as she ran far from her friends, Marco looked up the ceiling to see a small hole.

"Okay guys, I think we better hurry up, I think Julie's right." He said, stuffing his script in his bag and picking up his best friend's script, the two other girls stood up and rushed to the other side to Angelica, Marco strode there and the four of them just watched as more plaster began falling from the ceiling and some of the plaster landed at the four students' feet.

"Marco…go call for Ma'am Jillian…" Angelica muttered, he rushed outside at once.

Nicole took out her brass knuckles and carefully approached the spot where most the plaster has fallen; she looked up and saw nothing. She turned to look at the others and shook her head.

"There's nothing there." She said, but just as the words left her mouth, two figures fell on her.

"Whoa what was that?!" Angelica yelled running to where her friend was, she stopped in her tracks when she saw two…men…actually mice….alright mice in the size of men…well one looks like a mouse, the other looks like a rat. She paled and ran outside screaming bloody murder, Julie just stared, after some minutes of seeing the nearly unconscious creatures, she crept nearer to see Nicole underneath them, she wasn't unconscious she was mumbling things in Spanish.

"_Madre de dios que realmente duele._"**("Mother of God that really hurt.") ** Julie, looked at the two creatures before carefully pushing them off her friend.

When Nicole got on her feet, she looked at the two before looking up at the hole they came from.

"Soo…are they professors…directors or just some random hobos?" she asked, Julie shrugged, she was checking the two "men" if they were alright.

"Maybe they were making their own play." She said, her voice soft, Nicole looked at her with a strange expression before laughing.

"Jule, you do know we're the only department that's in charge of plays right?" she asked as she gently kicked the smaller "man"'s side.

"I know but why would they be dressed like that?" Julie asked as she took off the deerstalker off the head of one of the unconscious "men".

"Same reason Marco and Anj goes here dressed as Ponine and Marius…" she paused. "We all know what that means though, they won't get together for some reason, I mean come on, in what world will Marius Pontmercy fall for the poor Jondrette girl?" Julie sighed, it was a bad habit for Nicole to stray off the subject and she knew it.

"I know but…this is a bit much…" Julie said, tugging gently on the light brown fur on the "man's" face.

"You know that they're better than the guy who dresses a like Darth Vader." Nicole said shrugging as she slipped her brass knuckles on and immediately hit the man with the light brown fur in the stomach.

"Agh!" Julie stepped back immediately when the man was brought back to life, he bolted up and glared at his assailant…the theatre student playing Fantine who goes by the name of Nicole Gomez was smirking as she took off her brass knuckles.

"Forgive my violence, I don't usually attack people who fall from the ceiling, I usually set them on fire." She said as she tossed her brass knuckles to her bag, Julie approached him and handed him her handkerchief.

"Sorry about my friend's hitting you." She muttered under her breath before helping him stand up, the man looked dazed and confused as to where he is and was looking around when he saw his companion. He scowled and broke free of Julie's grasp and began beating his companion, Nicole rolled her eyes and picked her bag up, and she took out a hardbound book and hit him on the back of his head.

"Julie, go call for Marco will you?" she said folding her arms across her chest, she nodded and went out leaving Nicole to deal with two unconscious "men".


	2. Chapter 2: Childhood Friends

By the time Julie returned with Marco who dragged a still-hysterical Angelica along, the two men were already awake. Nicole tied them up and sat at one side of the stage singing "Defying Gravity".

"Um…Nic, what or who are those?" Marco asked, pointing to the two.

"Some bloody fools that fell on me, had me on my face they did." She muttered, apparently forgetting to speak like a normal person.

"So you tied them up and kept them there? You know that's pretty much cruel." Marco said to her, Nicole shrugged.

"You try to fall flat on your face with brass knuckles digging into you and you'll know why I did what I did." She said, standing up and walking to the two men.

"And besides, just found out…" she began in a sing song voice using the tune to "Master of the House", "That these two ain't human like us."

"What you mean, dear Nicole?" Julie asked, giggling as she played along.

"These two are real mouse and rat." Nicole answered glaring at the two, Julie's smile dissipated from her face, she frowned at Nicole.

"It can't be, can't be true, mice and rat cannot be big like you." She answered

Nicole smirked and knelt down, she carefully unbuttoned the mouse's shirt to reveal fur, and she looked at Julie and the two others with an expression daring them to deny what they see.

"It's probably special effects." Marco said to Nicole, she quirked a brow and yanked at the fur, the mouse yelped in pain.

As Julie watched Nicole's torturing the mouse, she noticed the rat stirring; it was the rat's face that got her, she knew him…somewhere in her childhood.

"I know that man…" she muttered to herself, inching close to the rat. "Can't forget a face like his…." She kept on saying to herself; she paused then turned to Nicole.

"Nicole, I know these two!" she said out loud at Nicole, her friend looked up surprised.

"What? Are they pets of yours?" she asked, Julie shook her head.

"Childhood friends more like." She said smiling at the two, "I often imagined myself in worlds like theirs…being an outcast, I like imagining I belonged…you know…silly little fantasies." She said shrugging as she untied the two and pulled them both up with a slightly childish smile.

Nicole looked at her friend with a surprised expression, she never knew about her friend's past except her being an adopted child but that was it. She never knew of Julie's being an outcast, a happy child sure, an innocent person? No, she knew about the incident of her third year in high school, she was there when it happened.

"When…did you meet them?" Nicole asked, looking calmer and tamer than she normally looks. Julie shrugged and grinned.

"Ever heard of the Great Mouse Detective?" she asked, Nicole grimaced and shook her head.

"Never, remember my parents raised me to be a cultured young lady. Never saw movies, only saw plays, musicals and other junk like operas and orchestras." She said sighing, Angelica smiled for the first time.

"I remember that movie…" she paused and looked at the two rodents standing awkwardly, "Are you saying…that…these two are…?"

"Yes, they are the Detective Basil and the great Professor Padriac Ratigan." Julie said, smiling at them.

"Julie, this is impossible." Marco said, shaking his head. "This must be from too much stress from rehearsing everyday and barely having any sleep…" he said, trying to remember what little he could of his knowledge in psychology.

"Um…hallucinations all at the same time?" she asked, he shrugged.

"Possible." Was all he said, Julie grabbed his hand and made him touch one of them.

"Tell me that this isn't real and you must be blind or…or deaf or something." She said.

"Okay…this is not possible…" he said backing away slowly.

He ran out of the theatre, Angelica sighed and followed after him.

"Someone's got to keep Marius silent before someone hears." Was all she said rushing out of the room.

Julie looked at the two staying far apart from each other; Julie walked towards Ratigan and cocked her head to one side.

"How's it possible you got to our world? With a height like that?" she asked softly, Ratigan looked at her confusedly.

"I don't really know what happened…all I can remember was chasing the detective up the tower…and I managed to grab hold of him when we felt something underneath us give way…" he said, frowning slightly.

"That was what I felt too…" Basil said shooting a glance at his supposed enemy.

"So…wow, you guys are good actors." Nicole said in an impressed tone.

"Nicole, they're for real…" Julie said, just Nicole nodded.

"I know but it's hard to imagine talking rodents in the size of humans." Nicole said, circling about the two, Basil was glaring at her while Ratigan looked at her curiously.

"So, what do we do now?" Julie asked, Nicole turned to look at her.

"We let them lodge with us, I mean, if they are who they are then most probably they won't do anything stupid." Nicole said as she picked up her bags and took Marco's and Angelica's also, stuffing their scripts in her binder.

Julie looked at the two and gestured to the door.

"You're stating with us, crazy as it sounds, we trust you enough to stay…follow me." She said leading them outside, the two looked at each other before warily following the girl.


End file.
